WOODPECKERS   -   PICIDAE   -   PART I

Bar-breasted Piculet Picumnus aurifrons wallacii Careiro da Varzea, Amazonas state, Brazil. Male. A distinctive race with spots on the lower underparts rather than streaks. (D3)		Golden-spangled (Black-dotted) Piculet Picumnus exilis nigropunctatus Caño Colorado, Monagas state, Venezuela. Female. This subspecies is endemic to the Orinoco delta region of Venezuela. It is sometimes treated as a full species and called Black-dotted or Black-spotted Piculet. (D3)

Scaled Piculet Picumnus squamulatus rohli Cotumbo road, Aragua state, Venezuela. Male. As far as I know, every member of this genus can be sexed by the presence or absence of red or copper on the crown, though the amount and pattern varies. (D3)

White-bellied Piculet Picumnus spilogaster orinocensis Los Güires, Delta Amacuro state, Venezuela. Male. This is the race from eastern Venezuela and the Guianas. The nominate race is quite different and looks a lot more like Black-dotted Piculet. (D3)

Spotted Piculet Picumnus pygmaeus Lençois, Bahia state, Brazil Male. Endemic to NE Brazil, but with a much larger range than the next one. (D3)

White-barred Piculet Picumnus cirratus cirratus Reserva Ecologica de Guapi Assu, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. Female. A common bird in southeast Brazil, extending into adjacent parts of Paraguay. There is also a disjunct race around the mouth of the Amazon River. (S5f)

White-wedged Piculet Picumnus albosquamatus guttifer Canastra NP, Minas Gerais state, Brazil. Female. A common bird of south central Brazil and adjacent Bolivia. Here it is right at the edge of its range. This is the only one I've ever seen in Canastra, where White-barred Piculet P. cirratus is still the common piculet. (S5)

Ochraceous Piculet Picumnus limae Batutité, Ceará state, Brazil. Female. A piculet with a tiny range in northeastern Brazil, endemic to the state of Ceará. It is usually found in the cooler and wetter mountain forests, but this one was in caatinga scrub about 60 km away from the mountains. (D3)

White Woodpecker Melanerpes candidus Pousada Piuval, Mato Grosso state, Brazil. Male, with yellow on the hindneck. (D4)

Yellow-fronted Woodpecker Melanerpes flavifrons Intervales SP, São Paulo state, Brazil. Male. One of the gaudiest of the neotropical woodpeckers. Like other Melanerpes, it is partly frugivorous and frequently visits fruit feeders. (S5)

Yellow-fronted Woodpecker Melanerpes flavifrons Hotel do Ypê, Itatiaia NP, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. Female. She lacks the red crown. (D4)

Beautiful Woodpecker Melanerpes pulcher El Paujil reserve, Santander department, Colombia. Female. This species is endemic to central Colombia, though it is often lumped with the similar Golden-naped Woodpecker (M. chrysauchen) of Central America. (D3)

Black-cheeked Woodpecker Melanerpes pucherani Mirador Rio Blanco, San Miguel de Los Bancos, Pichincha province, Ecuador. Male, probably a juvenile since the red doesn't come all the way up the crown. (S5)

White-fronted Woodpecker Melanerpes cactorum Caiman Lodge, Mato Grosso de Sul state, Brazil. Female. Found in dry forest and savanna of south-central South America. (D3)		Golden-cheeked Woodpecker Melanerpes chrysogenys flavinuchus Zipolite, Oaxaca state, Mexico Male. Probably a juvenile since the red does not come all the way up the crown. Endemic to western Mexico. (S5)

Hoffmann's Woodpecker Melanerpes hoffmannii Monteverde, Puntarenas province, Costa Rica. Male. (D3)

Red-crowned Woodpecker Melanerpes rubricapillus rubricapillus Henri Pittier NP, Aragua state, Venezuela. Male.(D3)		Red-crowned Woodpecker Melanerpes rubricapillus rubricapillus Henri Pittier NP, Aragua state, Venezuela. Female. (D3)

White-spotted Woodpecker Veniliornis spilogaster Aparados da Serra National Park, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil. Female. (D4)

Checkered Woodpecker Veniliornis mixtus malleator 18 km northeast of JV Gonzales, Salta, Argentina. Female. (S5)

Yellow-vented Woodpecker Veniliornis dignus dignus Tandayapa Valley, Pichincha province, Ecuador. Male. Generally a rare bird on the west slope of the Andes in Ecuador, though Bob Planqué has told me that it is actually quite common at a little-known reserve called Santa Lucia only 10-20km north of Tandayapa. (D1)		Blood-colored Woodpecker Veniliornis sanguineus Georgetown Botanical Gardens, Guyana. Male. Endemic to the coastal lowlands of the Guianas. (D3)

Yellow-eared Woodpecker Veniliornis maculifrons Sumidouro, Rio de Janiero state, Brazil. Male. Endemic to the Atlantic Rainforest of southeastern Brazil. (D1)

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